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It's a new year, but to be stronger in 2025, let's first reflect on all transit riders accomplished together in 2024. While SEPTA is safe till the end of June - the end of the fiscal year - we must keep working in solidarity for the permanent solution we all deserve.
In 2024 Transit Forward Philadelphia:
- (FINALLY) passed Bus Revolution (sort of)
- Organized six in-person testimonies for the City of Philadelphia budget to win new operations and capital funding, including transit priority infrastructure
- Organized 7 Operating and 11 Capital live testimonies and nearly a dozen written comments for SEPTA's budgets to advocate for better headhouse design, more seamless fare policy, support strategic capital projects to increase transit frequency and reliability, and more.
- Hosted a joint Spring rider/worker rally with Transit For All PA and visited every legislative office in the capital to demand long-term, sustainable funding for public transportation across the Commonwealth
- Continued our advocacy for short- and long-term intercity bus terminal, and handed out water during peak summer travel
- Won one-time funding for transit statewide despite no long-term deal
- Rallied in September through rain alongside transit workers from ATUs across the state and TWU 234 in Harrisburg for permanent funding
- Won federal highway flex funding executive order from Governor Shapiro to stave off SEPTA's death spiral for six more months. We and our partners drove nearly 6000 actions in under two weeks, including 25 public comments at Philadelphia City Coucil.
- Year-round advocacy and relationship-building led to passage of a half-dozen council resolutions, getting city government working proactively for transit
- Presented three times at the annual Mpact conference in Philadelphia on state preemption, accessiblity advocacy, and Reimagining Regional Rail
- Organized a transit panel at the 2024 Vision Zero Conference
- Added eight new members to our coalition: Young Involved Philadelphia, Kensington Corridor Trust, A Smart Collaborative, Disabled In Action, The Welcoming Center, Step Up For SEPTA/Save the Train, Olney Community Collaborative, and Roxborough Development Corporation
In 2025 Transit Forward Philadelphia will organize to:
- Make permanent and expand the City of Philadelphia's Low Income Zero Fare program
- Expand availability and use opportunity for the SEPTA Student Fare Card
- Win long-term, sustainable state transit operations funding and enable local-source transit capital funding
- Get Philly an accessible, sheltered temporary intercity bus station and win a commitment to a permanent, publicly-owned terminal
- Expand our partnerships in the collar counties
In 2024, we will strengthen our relationships with Philadelphia's city council, and work in concert with the collar counties to ensure SEPTA's operations budget stabilizes, so it can implement and continue to refine the New Bus Network (fka Bus Revolution), and make the most of its capital improvements. We will work in solidarity with operators to ensure workers' and riders' voices are aligned in ensuring the system is safe, clean, and reliable.
Transit Forward Philadelphia is 34 members and counting. In the past year our coalition and volunteers have shown up to city council meetings, testified at board meetings for DVRPC and SEPTA, rallied at the state capitol and met with every single legislator, and spoken before the Pennsylvania House and Senate transportation committees to demand accessible, reliable, and sustainable public transportation in southeastern Pennsylvania and across the commonwealth.
